Ghosts

It is a little known fact that ’ghost’ koi are a British invention. They were produced by accident in the early 80’s when a farmer allowed a mirror carp and a koi to spawn together. The offspring included some fish with metallic highlights on their head and fins. In a dark pond it is possible to only see these parts of the fish as they swim around suggesting a rather ‘ghostly’ appearance.

Our ghost koi production techniques are now much more refined. We have a special line of female ghost broodstock that we cross with particular male koi. The result is a stunning metallic fish that is particularly hardy and very ‘friendly’ in the pond. They are quick to come to the feed, rarely sulk and will always be up on the surface looking for food. The metallic colour can be ‘silver’ based or ‘gold’ based depending on the broodstock. We also occasionally use ‘longfin’ males to produce the ‘butterfly’ koi effect.

The beauty is in the beholder, but a classic ghost koi may have a strong metallic head, fins and a metallic edge to all of the scales all set against a dark grey body. The contrast of the bright metallic against the grey is what makes the fish so stunning in appearance.

This colour pattern appears very quickly on the young fish and stays with it for the whole of its life. As the fish grows older there is no fading and if anything the metallic colouring becomes more pronounced.

Ghosts are usually sold much cheaper than koi and offer a value and robust alternative for the pondkeeper. We sell fish from 2 inches upwards so there will always be a size to suit a range of pockets and size of pond.